Vulcanizing press



1 c. MACBETH VULCANIZING PRESS Filed June 23, 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet l [A/new r01? (24 //V /74c 5 m Jan. 21, 1936. c, MACBETH 2,028,518

VULCANI Z ING PRESS Filed June 23,- 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 21, 1936.c. MACBETH YULCANIZING PRESS Filed June 23,. 1933 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 A 770RNEYS J 1936- c. MACBETH VULCAQIZING PRESS Filed June 25, 1933 v 4Sheets-Sheet 4 [mum/roe 6%; /N M40 6517/ RTTORMEYS Patented Jan. 21,1936 UITE STATES PATENT OFFIE Application June 23, 1933, Serial No.677,253 In Great Britain June 25, 1932 29 Claims.

My invention has reference to vulcanizing presses of the horizontal typein which poweractuated mechanism is provided for opening and closing ahinged mould-member or members, and is particularly applicable topresses (such as used for treating the covers of pneumatic tires and thelike) wherein heavy internal pressures are developed during thevulcanizing operations, and the mould members, the opening and closingmechanism and other parts require to be strong and heavy constructionsin order that they may efiectively resist the distorting stressesexerted by such pressures and also stand up against the mechanicalstresses to which they are subjected during opening and closing of thepress.

The principal object is to provide for the simultaneous vulcanizing oftwo covers or other work-pieces in a power-operated horizontal press ofsuch compact over-all dimensions that the same can be installed in theapproximately same floor space as a single press for dealing with workof equal size, will enable simultaneous vulcanizing to be controlled bythe same equipment as is required for controlling a single press andwill considerably facilitate the performance of manual operations suchas the introduction and removal of work into and from the moulds. Inother words, the improvements applicable to double or multiple pressesare designed to realize advantages and economies in installation andoperating costs, inasmuch that, in comparison with an installation ofsingle presses of the same production capacity, the construction and useof double presses according to my invention will reduce the initial costoi equipment to the extent of 49-45%, save practically 50% in floorspace and while it does not reduce the time per workpiece required forperforming the charging-in, vulcanizing and removing operations yet theoutput per press is increased some 92% in addition to enabling a 50%saving in controller-equipment costs. Further, the double-pressconstruction hereinafter described can be used, if required, forvulcanizing a single work-piece at a time.

A further object of my invention is to provide a compact and eiiicientconstruction of poweroperated single-mould press; and with these andother objects in View, my said invention consists in or comprises avulcanizing press of the horizontal type in which a hinged mould memberor members is or are superimposed upon a stationary mould member andarranged to swing towards the back of the press in opening, and in whichthe opening, closing, and locking means comprise a power-operated togglemechanism whose main links are connected with the hinged mould-member(or with the top hinged mouldmember) by an overhead link, and whosepower cylinder is arranged between the said mould member and the saidoverhead toggle-link.

I propose to explain my invention by first describing the same, by wayof example, in its application to presses for vulcanizing wire-edgetire-covers; reference being made to the accompanying drawings in whichFigures 1 to 3 illustrate a double-mould press constructed according toone application of my invention, and

Figure 4 shows a single-mould press constructed according to anotherapplication.

In Figure 1, the double-mould press is shown in side elevation and withthe several parts of the moulds and their opening and closing mechanismin the positions they respectively assume during the progress of thevulcanizing operation, when the movable members are held in their closedpositions by power-cylinder pressure.

Figure 2 is a side elevation similar to Figure 1, but showing the mouldspartially opened and with the hinged mould-members in the positions theyassume after completion of their parallelmotion separation from oneanother and from the fixed mould-member.

Figure 3 is another side elevation showing in full lines, the positionsassumed by the several parts after the top mould member has been fullyopened and is power-locked in that position prior to the hinglng-up ofthe intermediate mould member. The same view shows, in dotted lines,

the intermediate mould-member hinged up to its fully-opened position.

In Figure 4, a single mould press is shown in full lines in itsfully-opened position; the dotted lines showing the hinged mould memberin the position it assumes after completion of its initialparallel-motion lift.

Describing first the double-mould press shown in Figures 1 to 3; thiscomprises two hinged mould-members A and B which, when the press isclosed and'in operation, are superimposed one upon the other and upon astationary mould member C. To reduce the over-all height of theinstallation, this member C is so constructed that it serves as the bedor pedestal of the press and is adapted to rest, preferably on threetriangularly-disposed feet, on the supporting floor. As regards themoulds and bead-rings, the bottom-half mould-ring c and bead-ring d ofthe lower mould are housed in the stationary or base member C, and thecomplementary upper half mould-ring c and bead-ring (1 and also thebottom half mould-ring e and bead-ring of the upper mould, are housed inthe intermediate member B, whilst the complementary upper halfmould-ring e and bead-ring f are housed in the top member A: Theintermediate and top members being independently articulated to aback-pedestal D which may be bolted to the base member C. The hinges ofthe two hinged members are superimposed and so arranged that, inopening, both the said members and the principal parts of the operatingmechanism, swing towards the back of the press, thus providing for freeor unobstructed access to the moulds from the front thereof.

The main power-cylinder 0 (that is, the cylinder which is brought intooperation to break" the moulds by a parallel separation of both thehinged members from one another and from the stationary member, and alsoto open, and control the closing of, the top hinged member A) is of thedouble-acting type and is arranged above the said member A. A second andindependentlycontrolled power cylinder h (hereinafter referred to as thesecondary cylinder) is housed in the back-pedestal D for giving theopening movement, and controlling the closing of, the intermediatemould-member. The two cylinders are adapted to be brought into operationsuccessively in a manner that first gives a parallel separating lift tothe movable members for breaking the moulds, then swings up the topmember A to the position which enables a cover to be removed from thetop-half moulding of the intermediate member B, and finally swings upthe said intermediate member to a position which enables removal of acover from the mould-ring of the stationary member C.

The main cylindera operates to "break the moulds, and to open or hingeup the top mouldmember, through a toggle mechanism which is combinedwith a system of cams for ensuring and controlling the parallel openingmovements of the mould-members during the start of each cycle ofoperations, and the parallel closing of the said members during thecompletion of each cycle.

The toggle mechanism comprises a pair of side-levers i of substantialconstruction, which are arranged on the opposite sides of the press andare fulcrumed on trunnions i carried near the bottom of the base member;the heads of these levers being articulated to a toggle link i which is,in turn, loosely articulated at i to the crown of the top mould-member Aand carries on trunnions 9 the main power-cylinder 0 whose piston-rod ispivotally connected at a with the front of the said top mould-member.The main cylinder is located over the front of the top mould-member sothat its weight may be utilized to assist the mould-closing operation ofthe toggle mechanism. This overhead arrangement of the main cylinderenables the same to exert its mould-opening effort on the toggle linkfrom the fulcrum constituted by the articulation g of its piston rodwith the top mould-member.

Toprovide for the initial and the final parallel movements of the hingedmould-members by and under the control of cams incorporated in thetoggle mechanism, the said hinged members are independently articulatedto the back bracket of the press by systems of hinge-links k is, whichpermit of the top mould-member having a differential movement withrespect of the intermediate mould-member. A certain slack may beprovided in the joints between the hinge-links and their respectivemould-members A, B, for enabling internally-coned flanges or similarregisters at the mould-peripheries of the said members to finallyregister with one another on the closing of the press and thus ensureconcentricity of the complementary mould-rings.

The side-levers i are provided, at a suitable distance above theirtrunnions i with cams i adapted to act, from below, upon rollers I)mounted on opposite sides of the transverse centre-line of theintermediate mould-members B, and other profile-edged cams a(hereinafter referred to as the top cams) are also provided on the saidlevers and are adapted to act upon the said rollers from above. Theside-levers are further adapted to operate, through links k k, a systemof double-acting oscillatory cams k (hereinafter referred to as theback-cams) which are journalled in the back pedestal D and function(during the initial angular displacement of the said side-levers) tolift the back or hinge side of the intermediate mould-member B at thesame time that the side-rollers b on the said member are being actedupon by the lifting cams i. These back-cams It also transmit movement tothe hinge links 70 of the top member A so that the hinge side of thelatter is lifted (as shown in Figure 3) at the same time that liftingpull is applied to the crown thereof by the power-displaced togglelinkage.

To provide for this simultaneous lift of the hinged sides of both themould members A and B the back cams is are arranged to act directly uponback-rollers I) carried on the pivots k which connect the mould-member Bto the hinge-links k and these hinge-links k transmit through links 7tangular to the hinge-links k of the mould-members A. This action of theback cams is so timed in relation to the action of the side-lever cams ithat the hinge sides of both members are lifted simultaneously with andat the same rates as the bodies of the said members.

During the initial lifting of the top member A, the top cams a on theside-levers are opposed to the rollersb and prevent the intermediatemember being dragged up with the said top member as the-result ofadhesion of the mouldcontained covers to the mould-rings. Thus, whilstthe cams ik .are performing their lifting and mould-separatingfunctions, the control exercised by the top cams i ensures effectivebreaking of the adhesion between the covers and those mould-rings whichare carried in the hinged mould-members.

The cams and linkages which impart the initial parallel lift to the topmould-member are so arranged and timed in its operations that the saidtop member is given a parallel lift from the J intermediate member whichsubstantially exceeds the lift of the said intermediate member from thebottom member, in order that the derimming and rimming-up of the coversin both moulds may be eifectively performed. The lifting and loweringactions of the intermediate mould member are kept under control by theaction of the lower cams i and top-cams 7' which are so profiled thatone set of cams always maintains steadying contact with the side-rollersof the intermediate member until the other set of cams has performed itsprescribed function. The side-rolls b may be of such a diameter thatboth cams i 7' cannot contact therewith at any one time.

On completion of the parallel de-rimming separation of the'top member Afrom the intermediate member B (that is to say, after the parts havebeenmoved to the positions shown in Figure 3and thetop cams 7' go out ofeffective action) the continued displacement of the sidelevers i andtoggle link i by the main powercylinder tilts the top mould-member A inthe opening direction relatively to its hinge-link k and away from theintermediate member which is held stationary by its own weight. Duringthe first stage of this tilting-up of the said member A, the forwardangular displacement of the back cams k continues consequent on thecontinued movement of the links k Why the sidelevers i, and the cams kand i co-operate to further lift the member B away from the stationarymember C, but the said cams 2' and k are so profiled that, during thefinal stage of the said tilting-up of the top member A, they ride idlyunder the respective side and back rollers b 12 and serve tohorizontally support the member B in its fully-lifted position as shownin full lines in Figure 4.

After the top member has been thus tilted-up or hinged back to theposition shown in Figure 3, it is locked in that position by thecontinued application of main-cylinder power to enable safe removal ofthe vulcanized cover from the fully- -accessible top mould-ring of thecam-supported intermediate member; the cams k and i being meanwhile alsolocked by the same power-cylinder agency.

To enable removal of the vulcanized cover from the bottom pair ofmoulds, the intermediate member B is hinged upwardly and rearwardly fromthe stationary member 0 and raised against the underside of the openedtop member (as shown in dotted lines in Figure 3) by bringing thesecondary power-cylinder it into operation. The ram of this cylinderthen acts upon a leverextension at the hinge side of the saidintermediate member, and rocks the latter on its pivotal connection withthe hinge links k which latter are meanwhile held stationary by themain-cylinder power lock on the back cams k. The intermediate memberremains locked in this raised position so long as the secondary cylinderpower is maintained on the lever extension.

The second vulcanized cover may then be removed from the mould-ring inthe stationary bottom member C, after which, the next cover to betreated is laid in this bottom mould-ring and the power is taken off thesecondary cylinder to allow the intermediate member to hinge down againunder control of the said secondary cylinder onto the power-lockedsupporting cams 1. Then a second cover is laid in the mould-ring on theupper side of the intermediate member, and the pressure in the mainpower cylinder is reversed to allow the top mould-member to close (underpower control) into parallelism with the intermediate and. bottommembers, after which the continued action of the main cylinder aloneimparts the parallel rimming-up movements to the hinged members A B asthe press is finally closed, due to the positive action of thelevercams7 upon the side-rollers b of the intermediate member B and to the directpressure of the toggle linkage on the top member A.

Control is meanwhile exercised by the cams i and k on the intermediatemember and on the back hinge-link system so that the hinge sides of bothmembers are constrained to drop in parallelism as the mould-rings areclosed onto the mould-contained covers.

In'ccnnection with the'toggle mechanism of the press, interlockingsafety means may be provided to render it impossible for the moulds tobe mechanically broken so long as air pressure is being maintained inthe air-bags of the moulds. For example, a safety-hook or catch p may befulcrumed on the front of the toggle-link i and be adapted to engagewith a pin on the top mould member in such a manner as to lock the saidarm and mould member one to the other and thus preventthe press openingeven if power should be applied to the main cylinder. This hook isloaded by a release-spring and controlled by the plunger or piston of alocking-power cylinder p which is housed or formed in the link memberi"; the said cylinder 12 being inter-connected with the air-pressuresupply to the air bags through a valve or valves so arranged that, onpressure being released from the said bags as a preliminary to thebreaking of the moulds, pressure in the locking cylinder is alsorelieved to enable the safety hook to be disengaged by its releasespring from the drive-transmission arm and thus allow the press to beopened.

In the application of the invention to a press for vulcanizing a singletire-cover or the like,as shown in Figure 4, the stationary bottommouldmember C, which again may constitute the bed of the press, has thetop mould-member A articulated to the rear thereof by a system ofhingelinks 70 and the power opening and closing'oi' the said top memberis provided for by a system of side-levers z, a toggle-link i, and anoverhead power-cylinder g, similar to those embodied in the double pressalready described. The'parallel derimming and rimming-up movement of thetop member isprovided for by back cams k which are linked to and movedin unison with the side levers and operate on the hinge links k tocontrol the movements of the fulcrum side of the topmould,

' also in substantially the same manner as in the double press.

Although the invention is herein described with particular reference topresses in which the power-operated opening and closing mechanism isadapted to initially impart a parallel separating lift to the hingedmould-member or members, and to finally close the said member or membersin parallelism, I wish it to be understood that in the case of pressesfor vulcanizing, for example, certain narrow-beaded types of tire-cover,the described arrangements for controlling the initial opening and finalclosing may be dispensed with, r

and the hinged mould member or membersmay be directly articulated to thestationary'backsupport of the press.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters'Patent is:

1. A vulcanizing press of the horizontal type in which 'a plurality ofmould members are superimposed upon a stationary member at least one ofsaid. members being arranged to swing towards the back of the press foropening, and in which the opening, closing, and locking means comprise apower-operated toggle mechanism whose main links are connected with ahinged mould-member by an overhead link, and whose power cylinder isarranged between the said mould-member and the said overhead togglelink.

2. A double-mould vulcanizing press as claimed in claim 1, comprising astationary mould-mem her, and two hinged mould-members, which aresuperimposed upon, and articulate-d to a stationary back-support, andare adapted to be successively hinged-up and lowered relatively to oneanother and to the stationary mould-member.

3. A press as claimed in claim 1, wherein the power operated opening andclosing mechanism is adapted to initially impart a parallel separatinglift to the hinged mould-member or members.

4. A double-mould press as claimed in claim 1, comprising a stationarymould-member, and two hinged mould-members, which are superimposed upon,and articulated to a stationary back-support, and are adapted to besuccessively hingedup and lowered relatively to one another and to thestationary mould-member, wherein separate power-cylinders are providedfor respectively opening and closing the top mould-member and theintermediate mould member.

5. A press asclaimed in claim 1, having a stationary mould-member andtwo hinged mouldmembers superimposed thereon, in which the operationsincidental to the hinging-open and closing of the top mould-member areperformed by a power-actuated toggle mechanism, and the operationsincidental to the hinging-open and closing of the intermediatemould-member are performed by directly-applied power.

6. A press as claimed in claim 1, wherein the toggle-mechanism comprisesa pair of side-levers and an over-head link which is articulated to thehinged mould-member, or to the top hinged mould-member, and carries thepower-cylinder that performs the operations incidental to the openingand closing of the said member.

7. A press as claimed in claim 1, comprising a stationary mould-memberwhich also constitutes the bed of the press.

8. A press as claimed in claim 1, having a stationary mould-member andtwo hinged mouldmembers superimposed thereon wherein the hingedmould-members are independently articulated to a stationaryback-pedestal by interconnected hinge links, and the power-actuatedtoggle-mechanism, with the cooperation of a system of cams and linkagesis adapted, at the commencement of the opening of the press, to lift thehinge sides of the said mould-members and simultaneously to lift thebodies of the members.

9. A press as claimed in claim 1, having a stationary mould-member andtwo hinged mouldmembers superimposed thereon wherein the hingedmould-members are independently articulated to a stationaryback-pedestal by interconnected hinge links, and the power-actuatedtoggle-mechanism, with the cooperation of a system of cams and linkages,is adapted, at the commencement of the opening of the press, to lift thehinge sides of the said mould-members and simultaneously to lift thebodies of the members, wherein the side-levers of the toggle mechanismare associated with side and back cams which are adapted to actrespectively upon rollers arranged at the sides and at the back of theintermediate mould-member for imparting the initial parallel lift; theback-cams being adapted also to transmit the hinge-side lift to theinterconnected hinge-links of both the hinged mouldmembers.

10. A press as claimed in claim 1, having a stationary mould-member andtwo hinged mouldmembers superimposed thereon wherein the hingedmould-members are independently articulated to a stationaryback-pedestal by interconnected hinge links, and the power-actuatedtoggle-mechanism, with the cooperation of a system of cams and linkages,is adapted, at the commencement of the opening of the press, to lift thehinge sides of the said mould-members and simultaneously to lift thebodies of the members, wherein the side-levers of the toggle-mechanismare associated with side and back cams which are adapted to actrespectively upon rollers arranged at the sides and at the back of theintermediate mould-member for imparting the initial parallel lift, theback-cams being adapted also to transmit the hinge-side lift to theinterconnected hinge-links of both the hinged mould-members, wherein theover-head power-cylinder is adapted to open and close the topmould-member and to lock the said member and its initial-lift cams inthe hinged-up position.

11.A press as claimed in claim 1, having a stationary mould-member andtwo hinged mouldmembers superimposed thereon wherein the hingedmould-members are independently articulated to a stationaryback-pedestal by interconnected hinge links, and the power-actuatedtoggle-mechanism, with the cooperation of a system of cams and linkages,is adapted, at the commencement of the opening of the press, to lift thehinge sides of the said mould-members and simultaneously to lift thebodies 01' the members, wherein, the side-levers oi the toggle-mechanismare associated with side and back cams which are adapted to actrespectively upon rollers arranged at the sides and at the back of theintermediate mould-member for imparting the initial parallel lift, theback-cams being adapted also to transmit the hinge-side lift to theinterconnected hinge-links of both the hinged mouldmembers, wherein theover-head power-cylinder is adapted to open and close the topmould-member and to lock the said member and its initiallift cams in thehinged-up position, and wherein, during and after the hinging-up of thetop mouldmember, the initial-lift cams are power-locked in positionswherein they support the intermediate mould-member in its liftedrelation to the stationary mould-member.

12. A press as claimed in claim 1, having a stationary mould-member andtwo hinged mouldmembers superimposed thereon, wherein the hinge side ofthe intermediate mould-member is provided witha lever extension, and asecondary power-cylinder is so arranged behind the stationarymould-member that its ram may act directly upon the said extension tohinge-up the said intermediate member and to control the return movementthereof. 13. A press as claimed in claim 1, having a stationarymould-member and two hinged mouldmembers superimposed thereon whereinthe hinged mould-members are independently articulated to a stationaryback-pedestal by interconnected hinge links, and the power-actuatedtoggle-mechanism, with the cooperation of a system of cams and linkages,is adapted, at the commencement of the opening of the press, to lift thehinge sides of the said mould-members and simultaneously to lift thebodies of the members, wherein the side-levers of the toggle mechanismare associated with side and back cams which are adapted to actrespectively upon rollers arranged at the sides and at the back of theintermediate mould-member for imparting the initial parallel lift, theback-cams being adapted also to transmit the hinge-side lift to theinterconnected hinge-links of both the hinged mould-members, wherein theside-levers of the toggle mechanism are provided with additional camsadapted to act upon the side rollers of the intermediate mouldmemberfrom above, for the purpose herein referred to.

14. A press comprising a. stationary mouldmember and two hingedmould-members arranged on one side thereof, hinge-links connected to thehinged mould-members, and initial-lift cams associated therewith, andconnections between the said hinge-links so arranged that, during theopening of the press, a parallel lift is imparted to the topmould-member, which lift substantially exceeds the parallel liftimparted to the intermediate mould member in relation to the stationarymould-member.

15. A single-mould vulcanizing press, comprising a stationarymould-member, a superimposed hinged mould-member and a power-operatedmeans, as claimed in claim 1, for opening, closing, and locking the saidhinged member.

16. A single-mould press as claimed in claim 1 in which thepower-operated mechanism is adapted, during the initial opening of thepress, to move the hinged mould-member in parallelism with thestationary member.

17. A power-operated double-mould vulcanizing press of the horizontaltype comprising a lower stationary mould-member and two mould-memberssuperposed thereon when in operative position, the superposed membersbeing articulated by superposed hinges to a support, and being adaptedto be swung relatively to one another and to the stationarymould-member, the pivot points of said superposed members being movablevertically to impart separating and closing movements to the saidmembers, and means to move the pivot points during the separating andclosing movements.

18. A press such as claimed in claim 17 in which separate operatingmechanisms are provided for respectively opening and closing theuppermost mould-member and the intermediate mouldmember.

19. A press such as claimed in claim 17 in which separate operatingmechanisms are pro vided i'or respectively opening and closing theuppermost mould--member and the intermediate mould-member, the mechanismfor opening and closing the uppermost member being carried with the saidmember.

20. A power-operated double-mould vulcanizing press of the horizontaltype comprising a lower stationary mould-member and two mouldmemberssuperposed thereon when in operative position, the superposed membersbeing articulated by superposed hinges to a support, and being adaptedto be swung relatively to one another and to the stationarymould-member, the swinging movement of the top mould-member beingperformed by a power-actuated toggle mechanism and the swinging movementof the intermediate mould-member being performed by directly appliedpower such as a pressure cylinder.

21. A power-operated double-mould vulcanizlng press of the horizontaltype comprising a lower stationary mould-member and two mouldmemberssuperposed thereon when in operative position, the superposed membersbeing articulated by superposed hinges to a support, and

being adapted to be swung relatively to one another and to thestationary mould-member, the swinging movement of the top-mould memberbeing performed by a power-actuated toggle mechanism comprising a pairof side levers and 5 an overhead link which is articulated to atopmould-member and carries a power cylinder which performs theoperations incidental to the opening and closing of the top member, theswinging movement of the intermediate mould-member 10 being performed bydirectly applied power such as a pressure cylinder.

22. A power-operated double-mould vulcanizing press of the horizontaltype comprising a lower stationary mould-member and two pivoted 15mould-members superposed thereon when in operative position, superposedhinges for the pivoted sections, and cams associated with the pivotedsections adapted at the commencement of the opening operation to liftthe hinges and simul- 20 taneously lift the members bodily.

23. A press as claimed in claim 22 in which certain of said cams areadapted to impart the initial lift and other cams are adapted to elevatethe hinges.

24. A press as claimed in claim 22 in which certain of said cams areadapted to impart the initial lift and other cams are adapted to elevatethe hinges, and means to lock the upper mould section in elevatedposition, said means being, 30 actuated by a power cylinder which alsoraises the upper mould-member.

25. A press as claimed in claim 22 in which certain of said cams areadapted to impart the initial lift and other cams are adapted to elevate35 the hinges, and means to lock the intermediate mould section inraised position.

26. A press as claimed in claim 22 in which certain of said cams areadapted to impart the initial lift and other cams are adapted to elevatethe hinges, and means actuated by the opening movement to loci; themovable mould-members in raised position.

27. A power-actuated double-mould press of the horizontal typecomprising a plurality of superposed mould-members comprising top andbottom members and an intermediate member, and means to move the top andintermediate mould-members vertically and then pivotally to permitaccess to the superposed moulds.

28. A power-actuated double-mould press of the horizontal typecomprising a plurality of superposed mould-members comprising topandbottom members and an intermediate member, vertically movable hingesupports for the intermediate and top members, and separate powercylinders to operate the top and intermediate mould-membersrespectively.

29. A power-actuated double-mould press of the horizontal typecomprising a plurality of superposed mould-members comprising top andbottom members and an intermediate member, vertically movable hingesupports for the intermediate and top members, and rollers on theintermediate member and lifting cams in engage- 65 ment therewith.

COLIN MACBETH.

